RESEARCH

 

Despite my observations on an earlier page, this can be the most enjoyable part of the writing process, but also the most distracting, hours spent down internet rabbit holes that never make it into the book.

Knowing where to start can be the hardest part, because there might be something quite technical that you want to understand but don’t know how to find it out.

Books and the internet are often the best resource. I bought a few books on post-mortem procedures and forensic evidence when I first started writing, and I still fall them back on them, because the basics haven’t changed too much. The resources are out there, online or in print, so use them.

Just don't use television drama as your resource.

If there’s a crime scene in a TV show, you will see CSI officers in full white forensic suits, and then the main detective will wander through in their Sunday best, standing over the body, careful only not to get blood on their shoes.

 

It seems an obvious thing to say, but the CSI don’t wear those suits to keep their clothes clean, like a decorator’s overall. They wear them so they don’t contaminate the crime scene, but the main character will ruin everything, just so we can see how thoughtful they look.

 

Instead, buy The Real CSI by Kate Bendelow, who is a real CSI in Manchester, and wrote the book especially for writers. There are numerous other examples.

I wrote a book during the Covid lockdown called “A Writer’s Guide To Criminal Law”, for that very purpose, explaining the legal system in a way designed to help writers understand it. I withdrew it from sale when I took up my current legal role, as it seemed incompatible with it, due to certain aspects of the book, but I will dust it down when I retire, update it, then re-release it. Mine wasn’t the only guide out there.

If the information you need isn’t in a book, try an email to someone who works in that field. If it is niche enough that the information isn’t online, they won’t be inundated with requests for information, and people who do interesting jobs like talking about them. The only advice is to be nice, and don’t hound them if you don’t get an immediate reply. Make an offer of a free copy of the book or something. Remember, they are providing their expertise for free. I’ve done it, as a lawyer who writes. Other people will do it.

Location research is something to take seriously.

 

Google Streetview is a good starting point, but nothing beats sitting in the actual location and taking it in for an hour or so. Make a note of things you see. A group of Sunday morning cyclists. The kids playing football on the patch of grass. The couple bickering outside the nearest pub. The sights, sounds, events, and smells of your location will add life to your scene. You won’t get that from Google Maps.

Counterintuitively, the main thing to remember with your research is to try to keep it off the page.

I’ve heard it said that what makes it on to the page from your research should be, “the tip of the tip of the iceberg”. What this means is that the reader shouldn’t have to read all that you learned just because you spent time learning it, or even a small part. They just need to know what is useful for the story.

For example, if the character is visiting the crime scene lab, you don’t need to tell the reader where it is, and what type of work it does, and for how many police forces. The reader wants to know what it looks like, and how it feels when you get inside. Quiet or chaotic?

For example, I went to a crime lab once as part of my job, and my main memory was seeing one of the fingerprint people hunched over some kind of eye-glass, in a bodily position that would make a chiropractor wince, and he did that for hours on end. That was the interesting detail, not the location. (note: this was quite a few years ago, and no doubt computers have changed things).

Dialogue can be a good way of explaining a researched fact and also giving it impact. Here’s an example.

I mentioned on an earlier page that when someone is charged with murder, they cannot apply for bail at the magistrates court, which is where the first appearance will be. They will emerge from the cells, then go to prison for at least two nights, as only a Crown Court judge can consider bail for someone charged with murder, but must do so within 48 hours of that first appearance.

If you wrote that fact like this in the paragraph below, it wouldn’t be credible, as it is obvious you are just trying to communicate a researched fact:

Harry looked back at the dock, where his client sat. He wouldn’t be going home tonight, whatever he said, because only a Crown Court judge can grant bail in a murder case, not the magistrates. It’s been that way ever since the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 came into force, although it must be done within forty-eight hours.

 

If, however, you concealed it in dialogue, you can communicate the fact, but also add drama:

“Mr White, your client wants a word.”
Harry went back to the dock and pressed his face against the security glass. “What is it?”
His client leaned forward. ‘What does she mean I can’t get bail? That’s wrong, I didn’t do it.”
‘I’ve told you, only at the Crown Court.’
“What, I’ve got to go to prison, tonight?”
“It might only be for a couple of nights.”
“But they’ll kill me in there. Harry, I can’t do it. They can’t do it.”
“It’s all they can do.”
As Harry went back to his seat in the well of the courtroom, all he could hear was the wail of his client echoing from the high ceiling.

 

Same facts, more drama. Remember, you’re writing a story, with drama and conflict, not Wikipedia.

 

Right, now you’ve got the names, characters, plot all sorted. What is your style? You know the answer is to go to the next page.